Backstory…repotted my sweet mini phal from white bowl to larger blue container. It had an abundance of roots growing out from all the air holes in white bowl and in the media itself and was growing out of the little bowl. It was only in the larger blue container for a week or two before I noticed blue and white fuzzy mold in the media. And the previously plump and healthy roots I could see through the holes were now mushy. I have since read that the blue glazing could have toxins that harm the plant and its roots. I immediately removed phal from blue container and media, applied hydrogen peroxide and removed all the dead roots, which only left four healthy ones.
Since the plant seemed to like the airflow of the white bowl and I wanted to prevent more root rot, I thought it would be a good candidate for mounting.
It's been a week on its cork bark mount. In the past couple of days, I wake up in the morning to find two drops of sticky honeydew—one on the node just above and one at the small branch on the longer spike.
I see no pests whatsoever, but swabbed the dew, spike and leaves with rubbing alcohol just in case.
In researching, I found some responses that said this could be a sign of health in the plant and is a natural occurrence on spikes as blooms develop. I also saw some that said it could be pests. How does one know the difference? Pests can be sneaky, and this phal has been stressed by two repottings (one repot, one mount) and loss of a majority of its roots.
Pest or sign of healthy plant?
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